Update by Joe Fortunato: Before you get to reading this I want to outline something: like I say below in the post, this rumor is 100% unconfirmed. As in I saw it on twitter from a few places that claim to have sources. I don't buy any of it, I just used it because it served a good example. Ok, let's move on. Enjoy the post.

With the recent rumors flying through twitter that the Rangers and Oilers are closing in on a deal that would send Wade Redden, and possibly Brandon Dubinsky, to Edmonton for Sheldon Souray and--I would assume--something else; many Rangers fans are furious. Why would they trade Bandon Dubinsky?

The NHL is a much different business than the other professional sports. In the NFL draft picks reign supreme. When was the last time you saw a block buster player for player trade? I would have to say the Champ Bailey Clinton Portis deal. In the MLB and the NBA players dominate the market, with draft picks having little or no consequence, unless they are lottery picks.  

But the NHL is different. Both draft picks and players (by the way when I say players that includes prospects) are equally valued when it comes to trades. In fact we had a big debate on this last night on Rink Side Radio. With that being said the NHL is probably the biggest "give and take" environment when it comes to making trades.

The Rangers are not going to waive Redden, that ship has long since sailed away. If the Rangers were going to waive Redden then they would have done it already, instead of waiving Donald Brashear for cap space and moving the goaltenders so many times that I think Alex Auld is currently on the roster. The only way the Rangers are going to move Redden--and his cap hit--is through the trade market.

Click after the jump for more.

Here is where we get to the give and take part. And while this rumor is 100% unconfirmed (we don't want anyone following our leads again, to tell everyone we were wrong, even though we were right), it serves as a good example. The Rangers would be giving up Brandon Dubinsky in order to remove Redden and his contract.

Here is the big secrets that seems to elude Ranger fans, probably because they don't want to think about it. No team is going to trade a 7th round pick for Redden. No team is going to give some prospect who probably won't even be in the AHL next year for Redden. Yes, a 7th round pick and an ECHL prospect seem very insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but that's not the point.

Redden isn't even really the problem. There are probably teams out there that can use a veteran defenseman on their blue line. It's his contract. Why would a team give up anything for a guy who is going to hold their cap space at ransom for the next 4 years at 6.5 million per?

The only way a team is going to pull the trigger is if the Rangers sweeten the deal. Dubinksy would be a tough loss to swallow. Personally I value him higher than Ryan Callahan, but that's just me. But Redden's contract is harder to swallow, and if you think it's bad now just wait a year or two; it will get worse I guarantee you.

So again, to be the voice of reason as DBMaven always says, in order to move Redden the deal with have to be sweet. Probably very sweet. In the short run it might hurt, and if the player (whoever they might be) blossoms into a fantastic player then it might also hurt in the long run. But such is the price of a mistake, especially when management sticks their heads in the sand and does nothing about it. Let's hope it's lesson learned for Glen Sather. No, let's pray it is.